John Henry was a steel-driving man. Willy Loman died the death of a salesman. Today, John, Henry, and Willy are students leaning on ChatGPT: John for his logic homework, Henry for his term paper, and Willy for his final exam. They think they’re avoiding the fates of their legendary namesakes, but, alas, they may be heading straight for the same tragedies.

He Laid down His Hammer, and He Died, Lawd, Lawd

John Henry is a mythical figure in American history, though scholars believe the core of his story is true. He was a 19th-century railroad worker, strong and proud. His tool was a 30-pound sledgehammer, with which he drove spikes into tracks and broke rocks to carve tunnels. Henry earned every penny through sweat and muscle, making an honest wage.

But the railroad barons had other ideas. They thought machines could replace men like Henry. The steam shovel, they believed, could outperform human labor. John Henry would have none of it. As legend has it, the hammer-wielding hero raced the machine, human against not-human.

The folk song goes: “The man who invented the steam drill thought he was mighty fine. But John Henry made fifteen feet; the steam drill only made nine.” Henry kind of won, but at a cost. He worked so hard that his heart burst. Racing the machine did him in.

The story of John Henry fits in with what sociologist Max Weber termed “The Protestant Work Ethic,” according to which Calvinism’s strict anti-hedonistic ethic gets married to “the Spirit of Capitalism,” and the result is that the good person is one who works hard, is disciplined, and dedicates themself to their job. Weber quotes Benjamin Franklin’s “time is money” to illustrate this spirit.

In this way, John Henry is a hero. He makes the ultimate sacrifice for the sake of maximizing his work, for progress, for the railroad, which will connect America and lead the nation into the next century. But, of course, he is a tragic hero. In the end, despite being the image of masculine strength and thereby health, he dies, having given it his all.

You Can’t Eat the Orange and Throw Away the Peel

The picture changed in the 20th century. Hard work may have been necessary for the American dream, but it was becoming increasingly clear that it was not sufficient. In his Pulitzer Prize-winning play Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller paints a bleak picture of contemporary human existence. Willy Loman was a hard-working salesman, dedicated to the firm for his entire adult life.

But as he got older, Willy was no longer as successful as he was........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)